H Johnston
Biographic Data
| ID | 55521 |
|---|---|
| NAME | H Johnston |
| GIVEN NAMES | H |
| FAMILY NAME | Johnston |
| SIGNATURE | JOHNSTON H |
| AFFILIATIONS | York University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5811-165X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 69 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
How can working conditions for online crowdworkers be improved? Institutional experiments for cross-jurisdictional polycentric work
This article articulates the theory and design of the Crowdsourcing Wage Pledge, an action research initiative exploring how academic users of paid crowdsourcing can contribute to improving the working conditions of online crowdworkers. ‘Crowdwork’ describes remote information work comprising short tasks – for example, surveys, transcription, translation, data cleaning – organized through online platforms (for example, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Cli…
The ethics of climate change and health-care delivery: A national survey of US-based physicians
Get on Board or Get Off: Nosediving Job Quality for Mental Health Providers in the Age of Platform Work
This article situates teletherapy platforms within the context of digital labour platforms. It explores commonalities including workers' employment status, worker autonomy and platform control, user recruitment practices and working time flexibility to show how teletherapy platforms have adopted the platform business model to mental health care. Presenting a first-person account from Nelly, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and social worker based…
Employment status and the on-demand economy: A Natural Experiment on Reclassification
This article uses data from a natural experiment to address one of the most contentious issues in the on-demand platform economy-whether gig work is compatible with standard employment. We analyze a US-based package delivery platform that shifted a subset of its workers from independent contractors to employees, thereby creating a natural experiment that allowed us to exploit variation over time and across locations. We examine the impact of empl…
Delivering difference: ‘Unbelonging’ among US platform parcel delivery workers
This paper explores a neglected aspect of platform work: how the spatial mobility that app-based couriers must perform requires them to violate taken-for-granted assumptions that define who belongs where. By assigning tasks during atypical hours and requiring gig workers to use their personal clothing, tools and vehicles, platforms strip delivery workers of signifiers that legitimate their presence in consumers’ neighbourhoods. The result is a co…
Unpaid labour and territorial extraction in digital value networks
Production in knowledge and data-intensive industries is powered by work that can, in theory, be done from anywhere, via cloudwork platforms. Cloudwork platforms govern data value chains in distinct ways to concentrate power and extract value at the global scale. We argue that unpaid labour is a systemic mechanism of accumulation in these digital value networks. In this paper we demonstrate how it is tied to platform business models and facilitat…
Labor Unbound? Assessing the Current Surge in Labor Activism
Where will the current surge of labor activism lead? To address this question we examine two distinctive currents of labor struggle-one rooted in 'new economy' firms and a second in the nation's logistics sector-where post-pandemic conditions have confronted workers with important opportunities and challenges. If the workers' movement is to make enduring gains, it will need to foster organizational alliances that stretch across distinct sectors o…
Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Worksite-Weight-Loss Program for Cancer Prevention among School-District Employees with Overweight and Obesity
The effects of Vibrant Lives, a 6-month worksite-weight-loss program, were examined in a cohort of school-district employees with overweight or obesity. The VL Basic (VLB) participants received materials and tailored text messages, the VL Plus (VLP) participants additionally received WIFI-enabled activity monitors and scales and participated in health challenges throughout the school year, and the VL Plus with Support (VLP + S) participants addit…
Driving the digital value network: Economic geographies of global platform capitalism
This paper applies insights from global value chains (GVC)/global production networks (GPN) frameworks to explore the economic geographies brought into being by digital labour platforms. In particular, these perspectives facilitate analyses of power imbalances and value extraction across territories-an under-theorized aspect within platform studies. We theorize this dynamic by introducing the descriptor 'digital value network' (DVN): a digitally …
Prime Suspect: Mechanisms of Labor Control at Amazon's Warehouses
What mechanisms has Amazon deployed in its effort to control the labor of its warehouse employees? This question holds both practical and theoretical interest, given Amazon's prominent position in the economy and the wider importance of the logistics sector for consumer capitalism. This paper, part of a broader mixed-methods study of Amazon's workplace regime, uses a small national sample of interviews with Amazon warehouse workers (N = 46) to id…
L'économie des plateformes sous l'angle de la géographie ouvrière: Comprendre les stratégies d'organisation collective dans le contexte du travail intermédié par les plateformes numériques
L'auteure analyse sous un angle géographique la lutte collective des travailleurs de plateforme. Distinguant deux formes de travail de plateforme (l'offre de services locaux et le microtravail), elle examine leurs caractéristiques spatiales respectives et les stratégies d'organisation collective spécifiques à chacune. À partir de trois démarches de dialogue social (comités d'entreprise, négociation collective et accords multientreprises), elle ch…
Too Good to Be True? A Comment on Hall and Krueger's Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber's Driver-Partners
In their comment on the article on Uber driver-partners by Jonathan Hall and Alan Krueger, the authors analyze the article's methodological problems, including sample bias, leading questions, selective reporting of findings, and an overestimation of driver earnings, which do not account for the full range of job-related expenses and is based on outdated data. The authors also argue that Hall and Krueger make unsubstantiated claims that extend bey…
Workplace Gains beyond the Wagner Act: The New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Participation in Administrative Rulemaking
Workers in traditional employment relationships have long relied on unionization and collective bargaining to counter unequal power relationships in the workplace and improve the terms and conditions of their work. Within the North American context, however, workers in select industries or with select employment status are legally excluded from this paradigm and unable to access basic labor law protections. This article examines historic gains ma…
The role of social categorization and identity threat in the perception of migrants
This paper investigates how the categorization of migrant workers shapes their reception. In an experiment with Northern Irish Protestants we manipulated the representation of Poland to make the Catholicism of Polish migrants either more, or less, salient. Furthermore, judgements of Polish migrants were obtained under conditions designed to encourage participants to believe that sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland was either resolved, or still…
Prime Suspect: Mechanisms of Labor Control at Amazon's Warehouses
What mechanisms has Amazon deployed in its effort to control the labor of its warehouse employees? This question holds both practical and theoretical interest, given Amazon's prominent position in the economy and the wider importance of the logistics sector for consumer capitalism. This paper, part of a broader mixed-methods study of Amazon's workplace regime, uses a small national sample of interviews with Amazon warehouse workers (N = 46) to id…
Driving the digital value network: Economic geographies of global platform capitalism
This paper applies insights from global value chains (GVC)/global production networks (GPN) frameworks to explore the economic geographies brought into being by digital labour platforms. In particular, these perspectives facilitate analyses of power imbalances and value extraction across territories-an under-theorized aspect within platform studies. We theorize this dynamic by introducing the descriptor 'digital value network' (DVN): a digitally …
Too Good to Be True? A Comment on Hall and Krueger's Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber's Driver-Partners
In their comment on the article on Uber driver-partners by Jonathan Hall and Alan Krueger, the authors analyze the article's methodological problems, including sample bias, leading questions, selective reporting of findings, and an overestimation of driver earnings, which do not account for the full range of job-related expenses and is based on outdated data. The authors also argue that Hall and Krueger make unsubstantiated claims that extend bey…
Delivering difference: ‘Unbelonging’ among US platform parcel delivery workers
This paper explores a neglected aspect of platform work: how the spatial mobility that app-based couriers must perform requires them to violate taken-for-granted assumptions that define who belongs where. By assigning tasks during atypical hours and requiring gig workers to use their personal clothing, tools and vehicles, platforms strip delivery workers of signifiers that legitimate their presence in consumers’ neighbourhoods. The result is a co…
Unpaid labour and territorial extraction in digital value networks
Production in knowledge and data-intensive industries is powered by work that can, in theory, be done from anywhere, via cloudwork platforms. Cloudwork platforms govern data value chains in distinct ways to concentrate power and extract value at the global scale. We argue that unpaid labour is a systemic mechanism of accumulation in these digital value networks. In this paper we demonstrate how it is tied to platform business models and facilitat…
Workplace Gains beyond the Wagner Act: The New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Participation in Administrative Rulemaking
Workers in traditional employment relationships have long relied on unionization and collective bargaining to counter unequal power relationships in the workplace and improve the terms and conditions of their work. Within the North American context, however, workers in select industries or with select employment status are legally excluded from this paradigm and unable to access basic labor law protections. This article examines historic gains ma…
Labor Unbound? Assessing the Current Surge in Labor Activism
Where will the current surge of labor activism lead? To address this question we examine two distinctive currents of labor struggle-one rooted in 'new economy' firms and a second in the nation's logistics sector-where post-pandemic conditions have confronted workers with important opportunities and challenges. If the workers' movement is to make enduring gains, it will need to foster organizational alliances that stretch across distinct sectors o…
The role of social categorization and identity threat in the perception of migrants
This paper investigates how the categorization of migrant workers shapes their reception. In an experiment with Northern Irish Protestants we manipulated the representation of Poland to make the Catholicism of Polish migrants either more, or less, salient. Furthermore, judgements of Polish migrants were obtained under conditions designed to encourage participants to believe that sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland was either resolved, or still…
Employment status and the on-demand economy: A Natural Experiment on Reclassification
This article uses data from a natural experiment to address one of the most contentious issues in the on-demand platform economy-whether gig work is compatible with standard employment. We analyze a US-based package delivery platform that shifted a subset of its workers from independent contractors to employees, thereby creating a natural experiment that allowed us to exploit variation over time and across locations. We examine the impact of empl…
The role of social categorization and identity threat in the perception of migrants
This paper investigates how the categorization of migrant workers shapes their reception. In an experiment with Northern Irish Protestants we manipulated the representation of Poland to make the Catholicism of Polish migrants either more, or less, salient. Furthermore, judgements of Polish migrants were obtained under conditions designed to encourage participants to believe that sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland was either resolved, or still…
Workplace Gains beyond the Wagner Act: The New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Participation in Administrative Rulemaking
Workers in traditional employment relationships have long relied on unionization and collective bargaining to counter unequal power relationships in the workplace and improve the terms and conditions of their work. Within the North American context, however, workers in select industries or with select employment status are legally excluded from this paradigm and unable to access basic labor law protections. This article examines historic gains ma…
Too Good to Be True? A Comment on Hall and Krueger's Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber's Driver-Partners
In their comment on the article on Uber driver-partners by Jonathan Hall and Alan Krueger, the authors analyze the article's methodological problems, including sample bias, leading questions, selective reporting of findings, and an overestimation of driver earnings, which do not account for the full range of job-related expenses and is based on outdated data. The authors also argue that Hall and Krueger make unsubstantiated claims that extend bey…
L'économie des plateformes sous l'angle de la géographie ouvrière: Comprendre les stratégies d'organisation collective dans le contexte du travail intermédié par les plateformes numériques
L'auteure analyse sous un angle géographique la lutte collective des travailleurs de plateforme. Distinguant deux formes de travail de plateforme (l'offre de services locaux et le microtravail), elle examine leurs caractéristiques spatiales respectives et les stratégies d'organisation collective spécifiques à chacune. À partir de trois démarches de dialogue social (comités d'entreprise, négociation collective et accords multientreprises), elle ch…
Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Worksite-Weight-Loss Program for Cancer Prevention among School-District Employees with Overweight and Obesity
The effects of Vibrant Lives, a 6-month worksite-weight-loss program, were examined in a cohort of school-district employees with overweight or obesity. The VL Basic (VLB) participants received materials and tailored text messages, the VL Plus (VLP) participants additionally received WIFI-enabled activity monitors and scales and participated in health challenges throughout the school year, and the VL Plus with Support (VLP + S) participants addit…
Driving the digital value network: Economic geographies of global platform capitalism
This paper applies insights from global value chains (GVC)/global production networks (GPN) frameworks to explore the economic geographies brought into being by digital labour platforms. In particular, these perspectives facilitate analyses of power imbalances and value extraction across territories-an under-theorized aspect within platform studies. We theorize this dynamic by introducing the descriptor 'digital value network' (DVN): a digitally …
Prime Suspect: Mechanisms of Labor Control at Amazon's Warehouses
What mechanisms has Amazon deployed in its effort to control the labor of its warehouse employees? This question holds both practical and theoretical interest, given Amazon's prominent position in the economy and the wider importance of the logistics sector for consumer capitalism. This paper, part of a broader mixed-methods study of Amazon's workplace regime, uses a small national sample of interviews with Amazon warehouse workers (N = 46) to id…
Delivering difference: ‘Unbelonging’ among US platform parcel delivery workers
This paper explores a neglected aspect of platform work: how the spatial mobility that app-based couriers must perform requires them to violate taken-for-granted assumptions that define who belongs where. By assigning tasks during atypical hours and requiring gig workers to use their personal clothing, tools and vehicles, platforms strip delivery workers of signifiers that legitimate their presence in consumers’ neighbourhoods. The result is a co…
Unpaid labour and territorial extraction in digital value networks
Production in knowledge and data-intensive industries is powered by work that can, in theory, be done from anywhere, via cloudwork platforms. Cloudwork platforms govern data value chains in distinct ways to concentrate power and extract value at the global scale. We argue that unpaid labour is a systemic mechanism of accumulation in these digital value networks. In this paper we demonstrate how it is tied to platform business models and facilitat…
Labor Unbound? Assessing the Current Surge in Labor Activism
Where will the current surge of labor activism lead? To address this question we examine two distinctive currents of labor struggle-one rooted in 'new economy' firms and a second in the nation's logistics sector-where post-pandemic conditions have confronted workers with important opportunities and challenges. If the workers' movement is to make enduring gains, it will need to foster organizational alliances that stretch across distinct sectors o…
Employment status and the on-demand economy: A Natural Experiment on Reclassification
This article uses data from a natural experiment to address one of the most contentious issues in the on-demand platform economy-whether gig work is compatible with standard employment. We analyze a US-based package delivery platform that shifted a subset of its workers from independent contractors to employees, thereby creating a natural experiment that allowed us to exploit variation over time and across locations. We examine the impact of empl…
How can working conditions for online crowdworkers be improved? Institutional experiments for cross-jurisdictional polycentric work
This article articulates the theory and design of the Crowdsourcing Wage Pledge, an action research initiative exploring how academic users of paid crowdsourcing can contribute to improving the working conditions of online crowdworkers. ‘Crowdwork’ describes remote information work comprising short tasks – for example, surveys, transcription, translation, data cleaning – organized through online platforms (for example, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Cli…
The ethics of climate change and health-care delivery: A national survey of US-based physicians
Get on Board or Get Off: Nosediving Job Quality for Mental Health Providers in the Age of Platform Work
This article situates teletherapy platforms within the context of digital labour platforms. It explores commonalities including workers' employment status, worker autonomy and platform control, user recruitment practices and working time flexibility to show how teletherapy platforms have adopted the platform business model to mental health care. Presenting a first-person account from Nelly, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and social worker based…
Digital Economy and Work Transformation (9 works) · Economics (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Sharing Economy and Platforms (6 works) · Engineering (5 works) · Labour economics (5 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (3 works) · Industrial organization (3 works)